A seven-year-old girl, Jacqueline Ntriwaah has been kidnapped at Kintampo in the Bono East Region.

According to reports, Jacqueline Ntriwaah, aka Maame Yaa, is believed to have been abducted by an unknown woman about a month ago.

The police command in the area is on a mission to rescue her, the police say they are following a lead to track down two callers who demanded cash from the girl’s guardians to disclose the location of the girl.

The police said they were also searching for a woman in a veil, spotted in the vicinity around the time the girl was supposed to have been abducted.

Speaking to Daily Graphic in Sunyani yesterday, the Bono Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, whose regional Command is also responsible for the Bono East Region, said one John Barnabas Ankomah, 80, and Victoria Ankomah reported to the police on April 4, 2019 that their granddaughter, Maame Yaa, who left home had not returned.

He said the police went to Sawaba, a suburb of Kintampo, where the complainants resided and searched the area without finding the girl.

According to Chief Inspector Oppong, the police were informed that Ntriwaah was playing with a boy of about seven years outside their house on that day when the woman in veil appeared and asked that they follow her for toffees.

He said the boy refused, but Ntiriwaah followed her to a nearby shop where the woman bought toffees for her. He said the woman again asked Ntriwaah to accompany her to another place so that she could buy food for her.

He said it was during the search for the victim that her guardians received phone calls on MTN numbers 0553894521 and 0240384360 with a request from the caller for GH¢500 so that the callers would reveal Ntriwaah's whereabouts to them.

Chief Inspector Oppong added that a motion on notice attached by an affidavit in support had already been moved at the Kintampo District Magistrate Court to order MTN Telecommunications Ghana Limited to furnish the police with the details of the callers of the two numbers to assist the police in their investigation.

He gave an assurance that efforts were being made to locate and rescue the girl. The supposed kidnappers, he added, would also be arrested and prosecuted.

Decisions being taken to deal with 'Phenomenon of kidnappings'

President Akufo-Addo has promised to get tough on what he describes as the “phenomenon of kidnappings” in the country.

The three missing Takoradi girls and the recent kidnapping of some expatriates have heightened public fear.

However, speaking to members of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) at the Jubilee House on Monday, the President said he is determined to deal with the recent kidnapping scare.

“We are all concerned about this phenomenon of kidnappings which we have not known. Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria have known it. But we have not known it in this country and we need to do something about it to make sure that it doesn’t become a feature of our society.

“I am very, very determined on the issue and decisions are being taken as we seek what will be a clear manifestation of the determination I have to deal with this matter,” he said.